SSP
Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

sedimentology

Psychology in outcrop studies: heuristic biases – our ‘best’ enemies?

Psychology in outcrop studies: heuristic biases – our ‘best’ enemies?

There are not many scientific publications that tackle the issue of subjectivity in geological studies and its impact. In one of them, Baddeley et al. (2004), they state it clearly in some sentences: “the judgements of experts can be biased by their use of heuristics to guide the formation of their opinions” or “accepted or prior opinions of existing experts certainly affect the judgement of other ...[Read More]

What do (Consulting) Sedimentologists do all day?

What do (Consulting) Sedimentologists do all day?

When I graduated in the 80’s, a job in oil and gas was seen as a glamorous and exciting career for a geoscientist. Even some dramatic falls in the oil price could not dent the optimism within the industry, and oil cities like Calgary thrived. However, life for geologists working in our city has changed dramatically over the last few years. A peak oil price of around $106 per barrel in June 2014 wa ...[Read More]

Congo Canyon: A Chat with Dr Steve Simmons

Congo Canyon: A Chat with Dr Steve Simmons

It is always an interesting period when the time comes around for me to write my blog for the SSP page. My research is predominantly in numerical modelling, which would be interesting if I was modelling awesome natural phenomena, but I don’t. I general assess the sensitivities of the numerical models to different sorts of uncertainty and whilst this is important work for understanding the outputs ...[Read More]